ICE Bought 60 Billion Stolen Faces

Clearview scraped the internet. ICE paid $9.2 million to search it.

TL;DR: Clearview AI scraped 60 billion photos from the internet, your social media, news sites, anywhere your face appeared online. They built a facial recognition database and sell access to law enforcement. On September 5, 2025, ICE signed a $9.2 million contract to use it. Illinois banned Clearview from selling to state police after a lawsuit. But that ban doesn't apply to ICE. Federal agents can use technology that state cops can't. Your face is in that database. You never consented. And now immigration enforcement can search it.

60 Billion Faces. None Consented.

Clearview AI built its database by scraping photos from the internet [1]:

  • Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)
  • News websites
  • Company websites
  • Any publicly accessible image with a face

They didn't ask permission. They didn't notify anyone. They just took every face they could find and built a searchable database.

The numbers:

  • 60 billion facial images as of early 2025
  • Database growing continuously
  • Images linked to source URLs (showing where your face appeared)

Post a photo anywhere online? Your face is probably in Clearview's database. Upload a picture to a news article, a company bio, a dating profile? Same thing.

Senator Ron Wyden put it plainly: "Clearview AI harvested millions of Americans' personal photographs without their permission to build a massive facial recognition database" [2].

The $9.2 Million ICE Contract

On September 5, 2025, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) finalized a $9.2 million contract with Clearview AI [3].

Contract details:

  • Total value: $9.2 million
  • Upfront obligation: $3.75 million
  • Duration: One-year base period
  • Extensions: Three possible one-year renewals
  • Award type: Sole-source (no competition)

Stated purpose:

  • Child sexual exploitation investigations
  • Investigations into assaults on law enforcement officers

That's the official justification. But once ICE has access to a 60-billion-face database, there's nothing technically stopping agents from searching it for immigration enforcement.

This Isn't New

ICE has been buying Clearview access for years. The September 2025 contract is just the biggest yet.

Previous ICE contracts:

  • 2020: $224,000 contract with HSI Dallas for child exploitation cases
  • 2021: $2.3 million enterprise license expanding agency-wide access
  • 2025: $9.2 million contract (current)

Other federal agencies using Clearview:

  • FBI: $335,000 contract (slated to end February 2025, likely renewed)
  • DHS Homeland Security Investigations: $1.1 million contract
  • US Army: $75,000 contract at Fort Bragg
  • US Marshals Service: $95,000 contract
  • CBP: Contracts at Spokane and Yuma sectors

Total federal spending on Clearview: approaching $10 million across agencies [4].

Banned for Cops. Legal for ICE.

Illinois has the strongest biometric privacy law in America: BIPA (Biometric Information Privacy Act). It lets individuals sue companies that collect biometric data without consent.

In 2022, the ACLU sued Clearview AI under BIPA. The settlement banned Clearview from selling to Illinois law enforcement and most private businesses [5].

But here's the catch: The settlement didn't apply to federal agencies.

So Illinois state police can't use Clearview. Chicago PD can't use Clearview. But ICE agents operating in Illinois? They can search the same database that state cops are banned from accessing.

Privacy advocate Jeramie Scott from the Electronic Privacy Information Center called it "what dystopian nightmares are made of", "continual expansion of surveillance without any real oversight or restrictions" [6].

Illegal in Europe. Fine in America.

Other countries haven't been as welcoming.

Fines against Clearview AI:

  • Netherlands (September 2024): €30.5 million fine for "illegal database" [7]
  • France (2022): €20 million fine
  • Italy (2022): €20 million fine
  • UK (2022): £7.5 million fine
  • Australia (2021): Ordered to delete Australian faces

European regulators called Clearview's database illegal. They fined the company tens of millions of euros. They ordered faces deleted.

In America? The federal government signed a $9.2 million contract.

Trump Fundraiser Now Running Clearview

In December 2024, Clearview AI got new leadership [8].

Out: Hoan Ton-That (co-founder, resigned as CEO)

In: Hal Lambert and Richard Schwartz as co-CEOs

Who is Hal Lambert?

  • Board member and early investor
  • Fundraiser for President Donald Trump
  • Says he will help Clearview "engage with the Trump administration"

Lambert told reporters Clearview is "currently in discussions with the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies."

Political connections. Federal contracts. The strategy is clear.

Now on the Pentagon's Shopping List

Clearview recently got added to the Department of Defense's Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace [9].

Tradewinds is designed to fast-track "innovative technologies" into DOD use. Companies go through an assessment process and get "Awardable" status, meaning they're pre-approved for future contracts.

Clearview passed. They're now on the Pentagon's approved vendor list.

The company that scraped 60 billion faces without consent is now a pre-approved defense contractor.

How This Connects to Everything Else

Clearview AI doesn't operate in isolation. It's one piece of a larger surveillance infrastructure:

An ICE agent can use Mobile Fortify to capture a face. That face can be searched against Clearview's database. Matches can feed into ImmigrationOS for targeting. Ring cameras provide additional surveillance coverage.

Each system looks like a tool. Together, they're infrastructure for identifying and tracking anyone, anywhere.

Is Your Face in the Database?

Probably. If you've ever:

  • Had a social media profile with a photo
  • Appeared in a news article
  • Had a photo on a company website
  • Been tagged in someone else's public post
  • Had a photo anywhere publicly accessible online

Then your face is likely in Clearview's 60 billion.

Can you remove it?

  • Illinois residents: Yes, under BIPA settlement
  • California residents: Possibly, under CCPA
  • Everyone else: Unclear. Clearview has an opt-out process, but compliance is voluntary.

Clearview's opt-out page exists. Whether they actually delete your data is another question.

The Bottom Line

Clearview AI scraped 60 billion faces from the internet without consent. They built a searchable database and sell access to whoever pays.

ICE just signed a $9.2 million contract. The FBI, Army, Marshals, and CBP have contracts too. A Trump fundraiser now runs the company and is "engaging with the administration" for more business.

Europe fined them tens of millions for building an "illegal database." Illinois banned them from selling to state police. But federal agencies? They're buying.

Your face is in that database. You never agreed to it. And now immigration enforcement can search it whenever they want.

References

  1. Nextgov, Clearview's goal: Facial database for government contracts (March 2025)
  2. CyberScoop, Feds' spending on facial recognition tech expands despite privacy concerns (2025)
  3. Biometric Update, ICE awards Clearview AI $9.2M facial recognition contract (September 2025)
  4. Immigration Policy Tracking, ICE contracts with Clearview AI
  5. ACLU, Clearview AI Settlement (2022)
  6. WBEZ, ICE has powerful facial recognition app Illinois cops are barred from using (November 2025)
  7. Biometric Update, Clearview AI targets US federal govt contracts with new co-CEOs (February 2025)
  8. Biometric Update, Clearview betting on political ties to grow federal contracts (April 2025)
  9. FedScoop, Clearview AI building deepfake detection tool (2025)